I want to say more about the bicycle/photo journey that I
took up the C&O Canal a few months ago but I need to press pause on all that
for now other than to say that in October, I’m aiming to show 5 Canal prints
for the “Engaging Light” exhibit at FRANK gallery in Chapel Hill. Some of those
prints already exist. Others do not. Yikes!
But for several weeks now, I’ve been distracted from printing
by more time-sensitive tasks. The first has been preparing a one-person
exhibit that begins September 9 at the FRANK gallery in Chapel Hill. (Full
disclosure: I’m a founding member of the collective.) I’m showing 14 framed gum prints of backyard flowers.
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| Elecampane |
I look forward to showing them.
To get to that point without too much disruption to the
rest of my life, I started working on the show several weeks ago. First up
was trimming prints down to size allowing me to float
them inside the slightly larger mat window rather than having the mat lay
over the print. I’ve never done that systematically. I guess I'm liking the look. Trimming added a good deal of time to the project.
The next step took place in my covered wood shop. That’s
where I make finished frames out of rough-cut wood that I get from a local mill.
Completed, the wood frame needs to be protected. I use tung oil. I think it
does a good job but I use it because it's one of only a few wood treatment options that aren't synthetic and honestly, I like the name.
I mix the oil with pigments chosen from the darkroom and
brush it onto the frame with the specific intent of marrying print to frame. Sometimes
one color coat does it, but other times not. Applying a second layer, or a
third, imitates the gum process. Nice!
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| Magnolia |
The last step is assembling all the parts into a glass framed print ready to hang on the wall. As of late last night, assembly of all 14 prints is complete!
On to the other recent diversion -- Sizing...
